For those of you who haven’t been able to meet for a period of time, do you remember that moment when you finally get back together, sing that first song, and hear your voices once again join together with vigor in praising your Father? And as you look around, you see that the emotion welling up in you is also on the edge of bursting out on the faces of your brothers and sisters in Christ as well! We felt that again. And it was SO GOOD!

…Aaaaand We’re Back!

I waited a little longer than normal in writing this because I wanted to be able to tell you that we have finally, once again, been able to meet again. And boy does it feel AMAZING! To sing together, to enjoy the warm fellowship between the services, to hear the laughter and warm greetings of one another as they catch up from the week. For me personally, it’s a welcome reprieve from staring into the cold, empty lens of the camera that I’ve been preaching to for most of this year. How refreshing it is to be able to once again see the attentive gaze of our church family as they respond to the words of Scripture!

The most recent state of emergency here in Tokyo ended at the end of September, and we were able to start meeting again on the first Sunday of October. We hope and pray that another emergency status will not be declared, and in faith we’re making preparations for outreach events for the rest of the year. (I’m learning to not take these things for granted anymore. 😊) As our church family starts to gradually get back into the flow of attending again, we’ll start with a Thanksgiving service and fellowship next month to focus on the goodness and faithfulness of God throughout the year. Please pray for those in our church family who have been away from gathering this year, as well as for the Christmas outreach and winter camp we’ll be preparing for over the next several months.

While We Were Waiting

In anticipation of the return of our church family, during the month of September, our church family began the task of taking care of some much-needed updates and repairs to the church building. We started with removing the old flooring and installing new flooring in the auditorium, (Here are several men in our church who are beginning the installation of the new floor.) We still have painting, expanding storage, and other projects that we will be working on over the coming weeks. It has definitely helped to give us a sense of a fresh new start for sure.

Meeting the “Regular Attenders” For the First Time

So far, we’ve had visitors each Sunday. On our first Sunday, we had a “first-time” visitor, a Christian lady who had been regularly watching the Sunday services on YouTube. It was a little amusing to meet someone that I’ve never met before who was familiar with me. That being said, I am so thankful that God has used our media ministry to help others as they grow in their faith in Christ, as well as to help others to find faith in Christ. The next Sunday, she brought along one of her friends to the service. We’re so thankful for them and for others who have become a part of our church family throughout this year even when we weren’t able to meet in person.

Thank you for praying with us throughout this year! While it’s true we don’t know what the next few months hold, we are confident in knowing that our Father will sustain us and help us, just as He has throughout this year.

To download a printable pdf, please click here.

If you keep up with our letters, you may notice that this letter sounds a lot like our last letter. And you would be correct. While on the surface, we may not notice much change to our situation, below the surface… our Father is always working. He is faithfully giving grace and strength to those who are His own, while drawing more to Himself through the redemption of His Son!

Sigh…

Here in Tokyo, it seems that over the last year, it’s been a cycle of our church family getting to enjoy gathering together for brief moments in between long periods of states of emergency. In our last letter, we were just starting another state of emergency that was supposed to last until the end of May. It was ultimately extended until the end of June. We were able to meet for these last three weeks, before Tokyo declared yet another state of emergency. Starting this Sunday, we will be going back to online services until at least the end of August. This means that beginning in September, our church family has only been able to gather together corporately for 8 Sundays this entire year. It has also meant that we’ve been unable to do many of our evangelistic outreach events because of the state of emergencies. Honestly, this year has been difficult. That being said, we are thankful for all the ways we’ve been able to reach out to people, including two Sunday livestream services, the church podcast, Zoom meetings, along with the personal pastoring of our church family.

What Has Helped Us

For our church family it seems that we have two different trajectories within the same church family. For those who are willing to meet in small Bible study groups throughout the week, I see immense growth in their faith and confidence in Christ, as well as their bond of brotherhood with one another. Our core group of believers has been consistently growing stronger through all of this! Praise God for that! All throughout this year, I have been awestruck to see how this one simple act: reading the same Scripture throughout the week and then getting together to talk about what we read, has done so much to mature both our seasoned believers and those who are young in the faith!  I can’t help but see the grace of God’s timing in preparing us for this year. We had just started our first discipleship group at the beginning of last year, and the second group a few months after that- a few months before the surge of COVID. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, as He guides us through the words of Scripture, these two groups have been the glue that has kept the bond of our core believers strong throughout all of this.

For those who have been unwilling or unable to take part in these groups, we fear that they are drifting further away from our church family. Please pray for them. My heart yearns for them to discover once again the joy and encouragement of gathering together with their brothers and sisters.

How He Helps Us to Help Others

Our bonus ministry of being able to help missionaries get back into Japan is still thriving. Most returning missionaries are required to finish a two-week quarantine before they can continue on to their homes throughout the country. Because we are relatively close to the airports in Tokyo, God has placed us in the perfect position to help meet this need. Even as I write this, we have a dear missionary couple staying with us before they head off to Okinawa. Their stay in Tokyo for two weeks would have cost them over $3,000. I have a feeling this ministry will last for a bit longer as more missionaries are traveling for various reasons over the coming months. Again, praise God for his grace in preparing us to serve our fellow laborers in this way!

Thank you for consistently and faithfully praying for us. To know that our brothers and sisters are boldly coming to our Father’s throne on our behalf means the world to us!

To download a printable pdf, please click here.

God is so kind and gracious to us! There are times when our efforts in serving our Father, and sharing His Gospel seem to be producing little, if any, fruit. At least from our perspective. And yet, in ways that are beyond our immediate scope of vision, our Father transforms our meager efforts to display His magnificent glory! And one day, we get to see HIS fruit produced through us, that has far surpassed our hope or expectation!

Round … Four!

In our last letter, we were just about to finish our third COVID state of emergency in Tokyo that had started in the end of December. After three months, in mid-March we were able to gather together once again as a church family. Boy was it good to get back together! As our church family gradually started coming back to the services, after about a month, we were really enjoying seeing our auditorium full of people again. The heartfelt congregational singing was glorious!

Just as our church was once again getting into the rhythm and flow of being together again… you guessed it. State of emergency. So far this year, we’ve enjoyed being together for five Sundays. This emergency status was only supposed to last for two weeks during a week of national holidays, but after the two weeks, the government of Tokyo decided to extend it until the end of May. Each Sunday we get to be together is becoming more and more precious!

We are allowed to gather with a few people at a time, so our Bible study groups have been consistently growing. One of the things we do as a church family is read the same passage of scripture each day, and then gather in different groups every week or two to talk about the things we learned. Those gatherings are becoming critical to us as we try to stay connected with each other through this season.

An Unusual, but Critical Ministry to Missionaries.

Japan has been notoriously difficult for people who are trying to get back into the country. For anyone flying into Japan through Tokyo (one of the main international airport hubs in Japan), one of the requirements is that they quarantine for two weeks in Tokyo, without using public transportation. For missionaries who are outside of Tokyo, this can be an incredibly expensive requirement. During this time, God has allowed us to host several missionaries so far to meet that requirement, and we’re scheduling more in the near future. This has allowed them to get back to their ministries without that added financial burden. Praise God for giving us a unique opportunity to serve our co-laborers this way!

There are a few requests for prayer that we have.

Many churches here who have Japanese pastors are struggling financially with the continued state of emergencies. Many pastors also hold part-time jobs in order to keep the bills paid. Please pray that their financial needs will be met, and that the believers here in Japan will continue to be faithful in a time when it is increasingly easier to drift away from church.

Also, please pray for new missionaries who are trying to get into Japan. Missionaries who are already in Japan are able to get back in (by meeting the quarantine requirements), but for people who are trying to get new visas to come into Japan, it’s currently impossible to get into the country. Please pray for those new missionaries as they patiently wait for Japan to open up again.

Thank you all so much for your faithfully being a part of serving and praying for your brothers and sisters here in Japan. We are deeply grateful!

To download a printable pdf, please click here.

Thanks so much for how you faithfully pray for us and partner with us! It seems that 2021 is turning out to be another interesting year; a year in which we once again get to put our full confidence and trust in our Heavenly Father as He sustains us and cares for us through life’s twists and turns.

The Third Shutdown

In our last letter, I was able to share how last September we had the joy of reuniting as a church family to gather for services. Unfortunately, as the New Year holiday went into full swing, the COVID infection numbers in Tokyo started increasing dramatically. So in early January, the government once again decided to declare yet another emergency status for Tokyo. Part of this is due to how condensed the population of Tokyo is. There is also a massive effort to salvage the Summer Olympics which were scheduled to be in Tokyo last year, but because of COVID have been rescheduled for this spring. Maybe.

For us as a church family, it means that, once again, we would have to abstain from gathering together for services. So during this time, we have resumed internet only services via Facebook Live and YouTube. Our church family is able to gather during the week in small group settings, so we are taking advantage of that as much as we can. The emergency status is scheduled to continue until March 7, so we have just a little bit left.

During this time, we needed to take a short trip back to the States to care for a hurting loved one. By God’s grace and providence, because our church was doing online services, I was virtually able to be on both sides of the planet at the same time. I was able to pastor our church family as well as care for our family in the States. Thank you, Father!

A Resource Hub for Japanese Ministries

For those of us who speak English, having a plethora of great biblical resources to help you shepherd your church family is a huge benefit and blessing. Because of the small number of believers here in Japan (less than 1% of Japanese consider themselves Christians), those resources are much harder to come by for those who pastor Japanese churches. Many of our fellow-laborers here have a much harder time finding resources that are designed for the Japanese people. For a while, it has been my desire to do something to help our national pastors and missionaries here to have access to things that will help them as they shepherd their church families. So this January, we launched a resource hub called kyoukaihelp.com. (“Kyoukai” means “church” in Japanese.)

While still in its early stages, I am looking forward to seeing how it will provide an opportunity for pastors and missionaries here in Japan to be able to share things they have learned in reaching and shepherding the Japanese, as well as to share resources they have found useful in their ministries that would help others. Please pray for this aspect of ministering to the Japanese! And pray for our church family as we look forward to gathering once again in March!

Thank you for how you care for us by going to the Father on our behalf and giving so that your brothers and sisters here can be encouraged and strengthened!

To download a printable pdf, please click here. 

As 2020 draws to a close, it’s definitely been a year in which God has broadened my perspective of serving Him here in Japan. It’s had its share of both trusting Him in the times of foggy uncertainty as well as rejoicing in the moments He reveals his glorious plan for us.

What is church like in Japan with COVID-19?

From mid-September, Tokyo started allowing people to gather again, although with strict “suggestions” for how a gathering takes place. For a typical church like ours, it means that every church attender wears a mask (not a big a deal here in Japan as this has been a common practice for decades), the windows must remain open to allow airflow (winter will be veeery interesting…), and we must maintain enough space in our seating. This is the most difficult issue, as our main “auditorium” is essentially an oversized Japanese living room, where before COVID seating 30 people was doable but tight. Now, we’re limited to around 15 to 20 in our Sunday gatherings, and use an overflow room when the auditorium gets full. This, along with those in our church family who are either themselves or have family members in the high-risk category, has reduced our church attendance by about half. That being said, God still continues to grow our church family.

How God Works Through COVID to Care for His Children

Here is just one of the different ways God has been working through our church family. Ikuya and Sachiyo Suzuki started coming to Akigawa Baptist Church in 2018. The story of how they came to be with us, along with Ikuya’s salvation can be found here. (As a side note, one day when you meet Sachiyo, BE SURE to ask her about her salvation story. It will blow your mind.) THIS story though is about how God used Ikuya and Sachiyo to bring two dear ladies to our church family.

In the apartment complex that Ikuya and Sachiyo live in is a dear Christian lady named Mrs. Tamura. For years, Mrs. Tamura had been riding the train for an hour and a half each way to go to her church in downtown Tokyo. But her knees started getting weaker, and she just wasn’t able to make the trip. For 8 months, she had been unable to go to church, struggling with not knowing what to do. It was right around this time that Sachiyo’s mom, who also lives in the same apartment complex, fell and fractured her hip. Through another Christian, these two ladies met, and started helping each other as they recovered together. They soon became fast friends.

Not long after they met, COVID came on the scene and shut down Tokyo, including our church’s Sunday services. This led to us starting our online streaming services so that our church family, (and anyone else who wanted to) could watch and participate as the Bible was being taught. Sachiyo, who had gotten to know Mrs. Tamura through her mom, invited Mrs. Tamura to join her and Ikuya as they watched the Sunday message. After watching the sermon together with them in her living room, Mrs. Tamura was so excited, she begged them to make sure they came over every Sunday so she could watch. As the COVID shutdown eased and we were once again able to gather together on Sundays, Mrs. Tamura couldn’t wait to come to church. Not only that, a few weeks later, she brought along Sachiyo’s mom to come with her, and now the four of them come to church together every week. Each Sunday, Mrs. Tamura tells me how blessed she is that God brought Ikuya and Sachiyo to her so that she could be part of her new church family. God is so good! Thanks for your part in this too!

To download a printable pdf, please click here. 

Round 2- Here we Go Again

Eight weeks was about all we had. After the three-month COVID-19 emergency status was lifted here in Tokyo, we were excited to finally gather together again on the first Sunday in June. But it didn’t last long. The following month, as people started to get out and about again, the infections in Tokyo started climbing at a very rapid rate. In less than two months, the infections shot up to twice what they were during the peak of the emergency status.  This time however, the government chose not to call an emergency status, but did shut down public gatherings, asking everyone to do what they could to help stop the spread. Because our auditorium is very small, and it was already consistently full, we decided to stop gathering and go back to only live-streaming again in August. So how has that affected our church family and our ministry?

Digital Outreach

Our online outreach has continued to gradually increase, as more people are watching our live-streaming services and listening to the audio podcasts. I am really looking forward to seeing the long-term impact of this aspect of reaching Japanese!

Honestly, I feel like I’m getting to experience YOUR end of missions outreach as the supporter. Just like you, while I know God’s word is going out, I only get a small glimpse of the impact it actually has. While I see the numbers grow of people listening and watching, I really do wish I could see the story of the person behind each number! Through it all, it’s been very encouraging and exciting. Because Japan is so digitally immersed, it really seems to be a viable way to help so many more people come to know Jesus, and learn to grow and abide in Him. In conversations with some of our church family, we’ve already come up with another way to help their out-of-town loved ones who don’t have access to a good church near them, (like so many others here) to learn about the Bible. But more on that in another letter. That project is still in its infancy.

Caring for Church Family

While we understand the massive potential that digital outreach has here in Japan, our church family is still our main focus. Helping our church family to grow in their love for Jesus and their love for one another without that corporate gathering as a church family has definitely been challenging. Midweek Zoom meeting services, small group discipleship, phone calls, texts, and group chats have all been keeping us busy caring for our brothers and sisters. And for the most part, I think we’re doing pretty well in growing together as a church family. That being said, I do think that for some, the fear of COVID is overwhelming, and it’s hindering their faith in God. For others in our church family, the lack of gathering together is causing spiritual lethargy. So please keep us in your prayers as we work through this together, that God would glorify Himself in each of our believers, and that through this, their faith in Him would be strengthened rather than weakened.

Having the Edwards here, the missionary family who came to work with us this year, has been invaluable. Having another missionary to share the load has been so encouraging. God’s timing in all this continues to amaze me in how He cares for us!

On a personal note, in July our daughter Brianah headed back to the States to begin her life as an adult. I think Bethany and I are recovering from the loss of not having her with us. But man, it takes time. I hate goodbyes. God’s been so good to our family though, and we’re so thankful for our home church in Louisville who has been so helpful in taking her in and helping her get adjusted to life in the States.

Thanks so much for praying for your missionaries even during these uncertain times. It means so much to us!

(For a printable version of this update, click here.)

Over the past month we’ve seen a wide range of responses, from careless ignorance to unfounded hysteria concerning the corona virus pandemic. It is in these times that our church family (and I’m sure your church family as well) has been reminded of how our eyes must be firmly set on our Heavenly Father, Who is in control of all things, and Who deeply loves His children. We can confidently rest in His care for us, and by faith ask Him for wisdom to guide each step of our paths.

How is the corona virus affecting us here in Japan?

Because of its proximity to China, Japan is a popular tourist destination for Chinese. This undoubtedly had a lot to do with how quickly the corona virus made its way to Japan. During the initial stages of the virus entering Japan, not much could be done, simply due to not knowing the characteristics of the virus. About two weeks ago, steps to prevent the spread of the virus started ramping up significantly. Schools have closed for a month (including the two weeks scheduled for spring break), and most sporting and social events have been cancelled to prevent large groups of people from gathering. Panic buying has occurred here in Japan too, with the main affected commodities being masks, and… you guessed it, toilet paper.

For us personally as a family, our youngest, Asher, has been home from school for this month, which has given him the chance to catch up with English studies (he’s currently attending Japanese school). The English school where I teach to develop Japanese relationships and to supplement our support has closed for the month of March. While this will make the next month or two a little difficult financially, it has given me much needed time to focus on other much needed areas of our ministry (see below for details 😊).

Our church family has been taking necessary precautions as we meet. We are advising those with weaker immune systems and the elderly to stay at home. Because we have a weekly sermon podcast in place, it has made it easier for those who are unable to attend to hear the sermons. Thankfully, we haven’t had anyone in our church family who has been infected.

New Co-Laborers!

We are incredibly excited about two missionary families who are going to be training and working with us!

The Benjamin Edwards family has been working with Japanese in military churches here in Japan for about a year, and have decided to put the full focus of their ministry on reaching Japanese with us here at Akigawa BC. This is such a needed help! Having someone to help share the ministry load has been something that I have been needing for a long time. They got settled in about two weeks ago, and have hit the ground running. Ben is starting his language school training in a few weeks (depending on the corona virus situation), and the whole family has jumped in to immerse themselves in our church family.

Joe and Sierah Pliska are from our home church in Louisville. They came to see us on a missions trip last year, and while they were here, they felt God’s calling to reach the Japanese. On returning to the U.S., they began the transition to begin their missionary journey. One of the first steps of that journey is to spend a few months here in Japan to better understand how to minister to Japanese, and how to prepare for life in Japan. They will head back to the States to begin deputation in May. If you are looking for a missionary couple to support, I HIGHLY recommend the Pliskas! They are deeply needed here!

Please pray for both new missionary families in their transition to new stages in life, as well as for Bethany and me as we also begin the new-to-us role of training missionaries to minister effectively to the Japanese. And finally, pray for grace for our church family as they also adapt to their role in patiently supporting these two families to reach their fellow countrymen.

To download a printable PDF of this post, please click here.